On November 21, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) welcomed Professor Wang Jia-Huai from Harvard Medical School (HMS) to campus and give a lecture on “Virus/Host-cell interaction: From structure to medical implication.” Department of Biology Associate Professor Zhang Hongmin presided over the address.

Dr. Wang is an associate professor of Pediatrics (Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology). He also works at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China in 1963 and became a professor at the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1986. He has been mainly engaged in structural biology research related to immune-related proteins and neuronal receptor molecules.

Prof Wang started his lecture by asking three interesting questions: How does HIV adhere and interfere with the immune activity of immune cells? Why has the SARS virus, which has existed in nature for many years, suddenly triggered large-scale human infections? In the face of influenza, can we develop a once and for all vaccine?

How does a virus invade a host cell? Prof Wang pointed out that the virus mainly binds to host cell receptors through the surface proteins of virus particles to achieve the purpose of invasion. He used HIV as an example, questioning why cellular immunity is lost to such an extent after HIV infection. He showed that the combination of MHC II and CD4 caused viruses to invade immune cells, resulting in the collapse of the entire immune system.

SARS virus is a coronavirus that has existed in nature for many years but has never had a history of human infection. Why can it cause a large-scale atypical pneumonia epidemic between 2002 and 2003? Prof Wang said that scientists found that four mutant amino acids of the virus increase the affinity to specific human receptors 1000 times greater than before, which directly caused SARS. The ability of the virus to infect humans has increased significantly.

People can receive one-off inoculations against viruses like smallpox and polio, yet influenza is not like that due to rapid mutations. Prof Wang introduced hemagglutinin, an antigen that is the subject of considerable research as it could be the key to finding a one-off inoculation against influenza.

In closing his lecture, Prof Wang took many questions from the audience.